Politics

Republicans have linked the issue of raising the debt ceiling to the deficit and are using the debt issue as a hammer to repeal three important social entitlement programs to which several conservative Republicans have been ideologically opposed from their inception. Since these programs became law in 1965, many of those Republicans have disliked the…

Ta-Nehisi Coates, in his op-ed column in the New York Times, tackles the fine art of compromise, arguing that it requires magnanimity as well as a hard line.    The administration of President Obama has never held much regard for its left flank. Admonished by the vice president to “stop whining,” inveighed against by the…

President Obama is engaged in an intellectual civil war with Congressional Republican leadership and their Tea Party Caucus. Unlike the battles being fought in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, the standoff between Republicans and President Obama is not a war of religious ideology and weapons of steel, but a politically manufactured…

News One is reporting that Republican Herman Cain is apologizing to Muslim leaders for vitriolic remarks he made about Islam while campaigning for the presidential nomination. On Wednesday, Cain met with four Muslim leaders in Sterling, Va. He said in a statement later that he was “truly sorry” for comments that may have “betrayed” his…

NAACP National Field Director Stefanie Brown also directs the organization’s Youth and College Division. She spoke to The Root at the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention in Los Angeles and explained why questions about the group’s relevance are one of her pet peeves. The Root: Does having a black president help or hinder progress on the…

Actor Isaiah Washington attended the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention in Los Angeles, where he signed copies of his book, A Man From Another Land: How Finding My Roots Changed My Life, and chatted with The Root about civil liberties for gays, tracing his roots and how he feels about the NAACP Image Awards. The Root:…

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous spoke with The Root during the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention in Los Angeles. He says President Obama “gets it,” stresses the urgency of fighting voter-ID laws and explains the definition of “employment discrimination 2.0.” The Root: Does having a black president help or hinder progress on the issues that are affecting…

The National Urban League’s National Conference opens Wednesday in Boston. The 101-year-old organization’s president, Marc Morial — a former mayor of New Orleans — sat down with The Root in the league’s New York offices overlooking the city’s waterfront. A frank, wide-ranging conversation covered the nation’s current economic struggles as well as the Urban League’s…

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is in Los Angeles for the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention. She chatted with The Root about the first black president, what everyone can do to get involved and why she’s afraid Jim Crow might be making a comeback. The Root: Does having a black president help or hinder progress on the…

The political gamesmanship continues in the debt-ceiling debate between congressional Democrats and Republicans, with a deadline looming after which our nation goes into default on its debts. In a bid to push past the deadlock and calm jittery financial markets, the president took his case to the nation (once again) in a prime-time speech tonight…